


Oh, Rosebud of Youth

by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)



Series: Culture Shock [1]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fear, Fluff and Mush, Gallifreyan Initiation, Grandfather-Granddaughter Relationship, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Hiding in Plain Sight, Plans For The Future, Pre-Canon, Running Away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-13
Updated: 2014-11-13
Packaged: 2018-02-25 05:19:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2609939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Im_The_Doctor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Have you not been loved yet?<br/>My sweet one,<br/>So innocent and pure<br/>Have you not felt the lure?<br/>Your day will come;<br/>That's for sure.</p><p> </p><p>The Doctor offers comfort to an eight-year-old girl who has just run from the Untempered Schism Initiation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh, Rosebud of Youth

The Doctor heard the sharp clacking of ceremonial shoes against the floor behind him but he refused to react. If what he’d heard this morning was true, the eight-year-old child who had just ran past him wouldn’t have any tolerance for sudden movements. **  
**

The next sound was the creaking of a cupboard and the scuffle of small knees against its wood. A click and the door was shut. Only then did the Doctor set aside his reading and got to his feet. He took his time approaching the tiny cupboard and when he reached it, he simply stood there, recalling his own eighth-year-Initiation.  **  
**

Exhaling slowly, the Doctor knelt and rapped his weathered knuckles gently on the cupboard door. **  
**

“Go away,” came the muffled voice.  **  
**

“Is that any way to greet me, Arkytior?” the Doctor called softly. At his voice, the door slammed open so quickly he had to jerk back so it wouldn’t strike him. **  
**

“Grandfather!” The little girl’s sigh of relief shouldn’t have been so weighty. “I thought you were...someone else.” **  
**

“Dorsocstrumnagarupsadath, yes?” Arkytior looked confused, so the Doctor supplied, “You might know him only as Dorsoc.” **  
**

“Yes, him. I thought he might chase me since he took me to my Initiation and I - ” She paused, biting her lip and glancing off to the side. **  
**

“Eh?” The Doctor leaned in with an expression of mock consternation, excusing himself, “My hearing is going, child, you need to speak up.” **  
**

“I...I ran away,” Arkytior blurted. “From the Untempered Schism - I ran.” **  
**

“Ahh, I see.” Settling back on his heels, the Doctor studied the cupboard, musing, “It’s ironic that you chose this place to go afterwards; I hid in this cupboard once too.” **  
**

“You couldn’t fit,” Arkytior retorted. “What about your bad knee? You would hurt too much.” **  
**

“Don’t question, just listen please. I hid in here,” the Doctor repeated, “right after I ran from the Untempered Schism.” **  
**

“B-But you’re the bravest person ever!” the girl stammered, her pale blue eyes scrunching up. “Why would you do that?” **  
**

“For the same reason you would,” the Doctor countered easily. “Hmm? Why did you run? Don’t think too long, child; we both know the answer.” **  
**

“I got scared,” Arkytior mumbled, adding hastily, “But don’t tell Mama or Papa.” **  
**

“I won’t,” the Doctor promised, sighing mentally for his youngest granddaughter. No doubt Dorsoc would take a great deal of care in telling her parents just what he had promised he wouldn’t. **  
**

Better fear than insanity. “So you weren’t _intrigued_ by the Schism?” he asked as casually as possible. **  
**

“No!” was the immediate denial. **  
**

“You’re certain?” **  
**

“Well...” Arkytior hesitated and then leaned toward him, her eyes wide and bright. “It was so beautiful, Grandfather, that I felt afraid of it!” **  
**

“Aah, yes. See, most people would only feel fear,” the Doctor explained half of his reason for asking. **  
**

“Does that make me abnormal?” Arkytior asked worriedly, tucking a blond strand of hair behind her ear in her moment of worry.  **  
**

The Doctor stared at her for a long moment of sadness. He had heard the word ‘abnormal’ directed at him so many times during his childhood, it had come to sound like a disease to him and apparently to his descendants.  **  
**

Forcing a smile, he leaned forward and brushed his fingers over her cheeks. “No, dear girl. It makes you _special_.” Extending his other hand also, he urged, “Now come on out.” **  
**

Obediently slipping her arms around the Doctor’s neck, his granddaughter allowed herself to be lifted into the air. The Doctor stood still longer than was strictly necessary, staring around the familiar room.  

“Arkytior, if I told you I was going somewhere...” he began cautiously, “...somewhere rather far away...what would you say?” **  
**

“I’d want to go with you, Grandfather,” the girl replied, nuzzling her cheek against his robe. **  
**

“Really? Do you mean that?” 

Lifting her head, Arkytior forced blue eyes to meet blue. “Yes, I mean it,” she said in a scolding tone he had used on her many times. “I’d go with you anywhere.” 

The Doctor studied her in mild disbelief, realizing she was completely serious. “Well, you...you _could_ come with me - ” **  
**

“I want to,” she repeated.

That settled it. Exhaling, the Doctor kissed her nose gently and told her with equal solemnity, “I’m very glad to hear that, my dear Rose.” **  
**

**Author's Note:**

> For any of those who don't know, Susan's Gallifreyan name, "Arkytior", translates to "Rose". I think it's lovely that the first companion of both the '63 and '05 series was named Rose. <3 And I know Susan's hair isn't blonde when she's traveling with the Doctor, but I like to think she's regenerated at least once by that time.


End file.
